1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of sewing of leather portfolios and particularly leather lined portfolios in which the center pocket which is formed by attaching together side and bottom pieces by sewing at their edges in overlapping relation are reinforced by an outside strap and in which the top of the side pieces are substantially wider than the bottom to thereby permit a wider opening of the center section when the center section is opened for withdrawal of the portfolio contents.
This invention is further related to methods for attaching slide fastener elements to the side and top inner portions of the center pocket whereby the center pocket can be easily opened and closed to expose and remove the contents thereof.
This invention is further related to methods for joining leather sheets or webs of the outer panel of a portfolio or handbag together by stitching to a tab fitted with a fastener whereby a concealed identification strap is enclosed within a pocket is provided in said tab and is adapted to be snap fastened and unfastened to be exposed for identifying the ownership of the portfolio or pocketbook. The construction of the tab encasing the identification strap is part of the inner construction of the tab.
The invention is further related to the method of sewing an external reinforcing strap along the bottom and ides of a portfolio and said reinforcing strap is provided in a substantially greater thickness than the thickness of the sides and bottom to which it is attached, the stitching locating the strap at the center of the sides and the center of the bottom piece thereby accommodating substantially the entire weight of the contents of the center pocket on the strap and at the same time relieving the pulling strains which are ordinarily exerted by the load in the center pocket pulling the bottom away from the sides to which the bottom is sewn.
The invention is also related to the provision of a novel concealed identification tab which will aid the owner of a portfolio or a pocketbook to identify the owner when the portfolio is checked in a baggage station, check room or the like, or when the pocketbook is lost and which is adapted for pocketbooks having a center pocket construction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the field of identification elements for handbags, portfolios, golf bags and the like, numerous tags have been provided to establish the identity of the owner so that the misplacement of the bag may be easily corrected and the checking of the bag may be facilitated when the bag is retrieved. It is a common practice for children going to camp having name tags sewn on their clothing, particularly undergarments, shirts, socks and the like. Cameras and binoculars are commonly provided with metal name tags which are embossed at the time of purchase by the retailer. Ladies handbags have become so stylized that they are today recognized by the logo of the manufacturer which is generally placed upon a flap which serves to close the pocketbook from its point of attachment in the middle compartment of the handbag. Examples of logos which distinguish the goods by identifying the manufacturer are handbags made by Aigner, Liz Claiborne, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Coach. In Coach handbags many are identified on an inside pocket which is different from the identification on an outer flap connected to the inside pocket and strapped to the outer panel. In short, the Coach line of handbag can be used by the purchaser for reordering to relate to a specific model and style number. None of these types of commercial bags and briefcases have provided a concealed flap to carry identification of the owner on the inside of the flap and in a pocket which is not exposed because the flap is snapped shut in a location on one side of the portfolio between the sides of one of the handles and at the top thereof.
Identification tags are commonly exposed openly to view near the handle of a valise or luggage and examples are found in Newson, U.S. Pat. No. 867,403 which shows tag 9 in FIG. 3 directly below the handle and Schweitzer, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 906,568, which shows the tab serving as a logo and similar to the Hartman logo on the Hartman portfolio manufactured by the Hartman Company of Lebanon, Tenn.
The concept in the present invention is to separate the logo or trade information of the manufacturer from the concealed identification of the owner. One ordinarily does not look for the manufacturer's identification for a tag that could simultaneously provide in a part thereof the identification of the owner. This is a novel concept which is applicable not only to leather portfolios of high quality manufactured by the present inventor but also to high quality leather handbags.
It is very common to provide identification tags which are presented in frame constructions highly visible to anyone seeing the container, baggage, or the like. Examples are found in Goewey, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,512,332, Brown, 1,610,354, Braunstein, 1,767,573 and in garment bags such as Walters, U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,639. Also baggage tags are commonly used to aid in reclining baggage which has been checked, from tags being provided by the travel agency or airlines or the like, others by the manufacturer and examples are found in Currie, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,211,681, Anania, 2,768,458 and Von Meyer, 3,417,496. An airport baggage tag is shown in Christiansen, U.S. Pat. No. 3,808,718. Name plates are commonly used in luggage as exemplified in Dorsen et al, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,177,587 and Machler, 4,199,045. However, name plates or use of initials are generally provided by embossing or scribing metal used as an ornament with hard sides luggage. The present construction is significantly different in its application in leather portfolios having a central pocket and to ladies leather handbags having a center pocket.
It is well known to strengthen a seam formed by sewing together pieces of leather by interposing a welt strip between the overlapping edges of the leather sheets such as shown in the patent to Glanville, U.S. Pat. No. 246,948 patented Sept. 13, 1981. The welt strip which is interposed is positioned so that the edges project beyond the overlapping edges upon opposite sides of the leather sheet and the strap is sewn by passing a line of stitches through the overlapping portions of the stock through the middle of the welt strip. The welt strip is generally positioned in a shoe at a position where the sole is stitched to the upper but I am not aware that a reinforcing strip has ever been used heretofore on the outside of a load carrying sack or soft pouch or soft luggage for the purposes of reinforcing the sewn bag or soft portfolio and prevent the stitches from being separated due to the weight of the load.
I am aware of seams in boots and shoes which are made by sewing two pieces of leather together as shown in the patent to Farnsworth, U.S. Pat. No. 126,537, granted May 7, 1982 in which two pieces of leather are connected together before the outer strip is attached after shaving down the edges of the leather so that the dressed surfaces of the leather will be positioned face to face. In the Farnsworth patent a narrow strip is cut and positioned along the length of the sewn seam and is sufficiently broad to lap a short distance over the two united parts. The present invention is different from the seams in the Farnsworth boot or shoe by being positioned at about the middle and transversely of the bottom and side parts which are sewn together in a manner such that the reinforcing strip of the present invention is provided along the center and side portions of the bag solely for the purpose of absorbing the strains of the load against the bag and away from the seam of the parts which are sewn together.
I am also aware of methods of manufacturing luggage covers for hard luggage in which corner straps are provided at the top and sides of the hard luggage to produce scuff proof edges of the luggage as shown in the Davis U.S. Pat. No. 4,337,853, granted July 6, 1982. However, this scuff proof edge structure provided in Davis is not comparable to the reinforcing strap which is sewn in a direction transverse to the sewn seams of the top and side leather pieces forming the top and sides of the center compartment of the portfolio.
I am also aware of reinforcing formed of metal strip valances particularly those made of aluminum or other soft metals to the opposing edges of hard luggage shells as disclosed in Koffler, U.S. Pat. No. 3,468,274 in which the metal valance is used as edging for the luggage shell.
Further, I am aware of Davis, U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,546 which provides a special overlapping edge seam for the edges of hard luggage and which is designed to withstand scuffing forces which the patentee believes causes the seams to tear in such luggage. However, the present reinforcing strap is an entirely different load carrying relationship to the center compartment of soft luggage and is not suggested by this Davis patent.
Holtzman, U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,554 is the only patent found in the sewing art relating to soft side luggage in which a load bearing valance member is provided along a peripheral edge of luggage and this patent discloses a flexible edge bearing strip connected to the side wall panel of the soft side luggage wherein a bead providing a shoulder extending from the outer side of the luggage is inserted between the bottom and the side in stitched relationship to provide a reinforced side. The patentee recognizes the tendency of soft side luggage to split between the sides and the bottom and specifically at the edge of the load bearing valance and to overcome this tendency of the sides to be torn away from the bottom a totally different kind of edge reinforcement is constructed by stitching than is provided in the present invention.